Playtime in Africa update: Multi-national design team heads to Accra

The Design Through Discovery team at Delft University of Technology

We’re expecting visitors! Early in October, Mmofra Foundation will be welcoming three members of Design Through Discovery, a six-person multi-national team of students based at the Delft University of Technology (TUDelft) in the Netherlands.

They’re flying to Accra for a full month to learn about and add their input to our Playtime in Africa initiative, using a participatory approach that will put them in touch with the community we brought together for our May charrette.

The other three members of the team will pay a follow-up visit in January.

Needless to say, we like DTD’s approach to the project – they want to make a concrete impact in child-focused urban design, and they believe in taking knowledge and inspiration from both local and global sources. We’re firmly on the same page.

Here’s some more about them in their own words:

The crew is formed by two strategic designers, two interactive designers and two integrated product designers. The team members are Maria Isabel (Brazil), Diego (Mexico), Ana (Italy), Janna (The Netherlands), Marc (Spain) and Fernando (Mexico).

Our experience abroad includes India, Kenya, Portugal, Brazil, Taiwan and Germany. From these experiences we have realized the way practices vary from culture to culture, highlighting the importance of design research and context exploration for reaching more meaningful, inclusive and long lasting solutions.

By looking, listening and learning with a neutral perspective these techniques appraise errors and embrace surprises. Open sessions with kids and semi-structured ones with other members of the community will allow us to introduce ourselves to the community while sharing expectations about the playground.

Check out this video by DTD team member Maria, which uses Bell’s work to illustrate their pitch – and look out for more on the visit itself next month.

We have the wonderful recycling business Trashy Bags – neighbors of ours, based around the corner from the Playtime in Africa site – to thank for introducing us to program facilitators Esther Blom and Boukje Vastbinder at TUDelft!